The Philosophy of Unfair Dismissal Law in Nigeria

Abstract

In Nigeria, the past three decades have witnessed a steady growing private sector, but the relationship between employers and employees continues to be a turbulent one and a source of unending litigation. This situation is worsened by the dwindling state of the economy. Paid employment continues to constitute the major source of livelihood of many families and this has made it an important source of livelihood in majority of the households in Nigeria. However, with the employment relationship comes an inherent conflict of interest between the employer and the employee. How best to manage this conflict has been left to the different nations to determine. In Nigeria, the law governs the cessation of an employment relationship but the statute governing dismissal is seemingly still a relic of the received English law as at 1900. The failure to bring the provisions of the statute on dismissal in tandem with the current day realities has brought about a distortion of the balance of interest between the employer and employee. In a bid to ensure stability, the concept of fair dismissal evolved. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the fundamental nature, attitudes, realities, existence and theories that act as guiding principles for unfair dismissal law in Nigeria. This paper examines the evolution of the labour law jurisprudence on unfair dismissal, and its jurisprudential foundation in Nigeria. It seeks to reveal the historical, moral, and cultural basis of unfair dismissal law. The article focuses on finding the answers to such abstract questions as what is unfair dismissal law? and how do judges decide such cases?